Traveling rocking horse



. 6, 1949 M. D. JAcoBs TRAVELING ROCKING HORSE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filedsept". 27, 1945 mvEN-roR bij ATTQRNEY.

De@ 6, 1949 M. D, .IAQ-:oss f 2,490,059

TRAVELING RO-CKING HORSE Filed sept. 2'?, i945 5 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTORv www /g ATTORNEY.

M. D. JACOBS TRAVELING BOOKING HORSE 5 She'ets-Sheet 3 Filed sept. 27,1945 INVENTOR:

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LQ@ MQW 6, 1949 M. D. JACOBS TRAYELING ROCKING HORSE Filed sept. 27'.1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTQR.

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Dec. 6, 1949 M. D. N.JAczos 2,490,059

TRAVELING ROCKING HORSE Filed Sept. 27, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 MAM/ff.JAcos,

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Patented Dec. 6, 1949 barrial)V sTATEs rarsNr OFFICE TRAVELING BOOKINGHGRSE Maurice D. Jacobs, Long Island, N. Y.

Application September 27, 1945, Serial No. 618,929

1 Claim.

This invention relates to rocking devices, in general, and hasr for itsmain object to provide a device of this nature, which will advance ortravel through novel, efficient means, when it is set into rockingmotion, My invention particularly relates to rocking horses, whethertoys or exercising devices, and whether for children or adults, whichwill have substantially the same construction and appearance as hobbyhorses are constructed and appear now, but which will be caused totravel when rocked by said novel and efficient means.

Another object of. my' invention is, to provide a. device, like arocking horse, having a runner or rocker member with curved lowercontour, which will be divided into a front and a rear part, aninterconnection being provided between the two parts whereby a backwardrocking will cause the front part of. said runner to advance relativelyto the rear part, and a forward rocking of the device will cause therear partA to travel forwardly and. close upon the advanced front part.

Still other objects of my invention are: to provide a rocking andtravelling device of the nature indicated, which may be converted into astationary rocking! device, if desired, and in which means are providedto ease the forward sliding or closing of the rear portion, whichcarries the user ofthe device, and which, while rocking and i) others, Imay mention: tok providey a device, as

characterized hereinbefore, which will be adapted for smooth andcontinuous rocking and rolling motion while the same is advancing; whichwill be simple in construction, strong and reliable, comparativelyinexpensive to manufacture, and will have very few moving parts, whichwill be quiet and safe in operation, preventing a possible injury to achild using the same, and which may move on almost any' kind of groundor iioor, rugs, lawn, etc., indoors or outdoors.

In the drawings, formingv a part of this specication and accompanyingthe same:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view ofv the preferred embodiment of myinvention', as applied to a rocking horse;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic View of a runner used in my invention andformed of two parts;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are diagrammatic illustrationsv Il. i)

of the relative movements of the parts of the runner upon rocking thesame;

Figs. 7,. 8 and 9 are detailed sectional views, the sections being takenon the lines 'l-l, 5 8, and QMS, respectively, 0f Fig. 1.

Figs. 1G, 11 and 12, are fragmentary side, plan and sectional views,respectively, of a modification of my invention, and

Figs. 13, 14 and 15 are similar views of still another form ofembodiment thereof.

Fig. 16 is a semi-diagrammatic elevational view of a further embodimentof my invention, and

Fig. 1'? is a sectional View thereof, the section being taken on theline I'I-I'l in Fig. 16.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail, by characters ofreference, in Figs. 1 to 9 the numeral. Sil indicates said preferredembodiment of my invention, as applied to a rocking horse, in general,the numeral 3l indicating the runners or rockers of the same, and thenumeral 32 the upper structure, or horse.

The runner or rocker portion V3| is composed of two plate-like edge-wiseset members 33 and r Si, each having an arcuate lower or rocking edgeand, in the embodiment shown, a straight upper edge 36.. Each runner orrocker, however, is composed of a rear member 3l and a front member 38,the two substantially forming a plate of lthe shape yof the respectivewhole runner 33 and 34, but being separated by an arcuate slot said slotpreferably being arranged in the front part of the device at a distanceabove the lower or bottom edge 35a of said front member, being inparallelism therewith. The total separation of the two members iseffected by a transverse terminal division or slot il!! between the twomembers at the rear end of the front member 38.

`It will be seen that the front member reaches quite a distance towardsrearwardly, preferably beyond the ,center line of the device, while theupper portion of the rear member :il reaches `considerably forwardly,its front end being indicated at ill. Forwardly from the upper end ofthe separation line= or from said front edge di of the rear member, theupper horizontal side of the runner or rocker device is formed by theront partthereof, as indicated by the numeral a Two transverse .platemembers, ,42 and ls, may be secured across the rear members 3l' of thetwo runners, at a desired distance from one another and upwardlyinclining towards one another, and the rocking horse 32A may be built onthese two cross members 42 and 43 in the manner indicated in thedrawings, or in any other appropriate manner, its front leg 43a beingplaced quite forwardly, as well as the saddle 44, receiving the weightof the user, also preferably will be placed quite forwardly of the rearrunner. In the embodiment shown, the head and neck of the horse isformed by a vertical plate member shaped as shown, and having the gripsor handles 45 secured thereto.

An elongated vertical outer plate 46 is secured on the forward end ofthe rear portion 31 of each runner, as indicated at 41 and 48, the plate45 being lower than its securing upstanding lugs 41 and 48, coveringmost of the respective front runner member 38, but at most of its lengthbeing somewhat narrower than the said front member, so as not to touchtheground. Thenarrow portion is indicated at 48a. Said plate 46,however, is extended rearwardly, to a slight distance beyond the saidtransverse separation line 40, and the rear portion 45h thereof will bemade somewhat wider downwardly to be in registering relation with thebottom, or rocking, edge 35 of the rear member 31 of the runner device.

An elongated curved front slot 49 and a similar elongated curved rearslot are cut through the material of the front runner member 38, saidslots also being in parallelism with the bottom or runner edge 35athereof.

A roller 5| is arranged in the front slot 49, and a similar roller 52 inthe rear slot 58, said rollers running on pins secured into the outerplate 46, which plate is secured on, and depends from, the rear member31 of the runner, as has been mentioned hereinbefore. The rollers 5| and52, therefore, are adapted to ride in the slots 43 and 58 independentlyof the front member 38, as required by its relative movements withreference to the rear member 31. To further secure and stabilize therollers 5i and 52, inside depending members Bia and 52a may be securedon the forward part of the rear member 31 and the inner ends of the pinsfor the rollers secured in them, as will be understood.

Finally, I also may secure an inwardly extending pin 53 on the rear partof the front member, and a pin 54 on the depending inside element 52a onthe rear runner member 31, and a rubber spring 55 will be arrangedbetween pin 53 on the front member and pin 54 on the rear member.Obviously, the end on pin 54 of the spring will be forwardly withreference to its end secured on the pin 53.

In Figs. 4 to 6, I illustrate in a diagrammatic manner, the method, ormanner, by which my device will automatically advance upon the rockingof the same.

In Fig. 4 I show the runner device in a normal resting position, and itwill be seen that the rear member 31 thereof is closed on the frontmember 38, rollers 5| and 52 being at the forward ends of theirrespective curved slots 49 and 50, and the spring member 55 beingstressed and eX- panded, pin 54 pulling its respective end forwardlywhen the rear member 31 closes on the front member 38.

Suppose that in this situation the device now is rocked backwardly, asindicated by arrow 56 (Fig. 5). When the backward rocking reaches tosuch an extent that the device entirely is resting on the rear member31, the front member 38 will be released from its frictional binding onthe ground, and will shoot forwardly, as indicated by arrow 51, spring55 pulling the same in that direction, since the forward end of thespring on pin 54 will be stationary and locked on the rear member, whilethe rear end, on pin 53, now is free to move forwardly, under thetension in the spring.

rIhe nal position after this movement, will be the one indicated in Fig.5 whereby the front member 38 will shoot forwardly and upwardly, beyondand above the front edge 4| of the rear member 31 to a distance allowedby the slots 49 and 5G, and the spring 55 will contract into a normalcondition. Rollers 5| and 52 will ride in the slots 4S and 55 up to therear ends thereof.

When, now, the rocking device is rocked forwardly, as indicated by thearrow 58 (Fig. 6), and to such an extent that the weight of the devicewill rest entirely on the forward rocker member 38, the rear member 31will be released from a binding on the floor, and will slide forwardlyon the front member on the rollers 5| and 52 in the respective slotsunder the weight of said rear member, itself, and possibly that of theuser, if the rocking device is a hobby horse. Such a forward sliding ofthe rear member will continue until it closes upon the front member, andthe spring 55 will, again, be stressed or expanded through thismovement, as indicated in Fig. 6.

It will be seen, however, that through said backward and forwardrocking, the device advances in a straight direction with the extent ofthe forward shooting of the front runner member 38.y Upon each rocking,backwards and forwards, the same advance will be made, and in thismanner, the device will travel while rocking.

It will be seen that upon a forward shooting of the front member 38, thewider rear portion 46D of the outer plate 4G, secured to the rear member31, will cover the gap between the rear end 40a of the front member andthe edge 4819 of the rear member corresponding to the same, and sincethe lower edge 45e of said rear portion 4Gb is a continuation of thegeneral Ibottom or rocking curve 35 of the device, the backward andforward rocking will be smooth and continuous, without any shocks orjars.

It also will be obvious that upon a forward rocking to a suitabledegree, the part 4Gb also will be released from a binding with theground, and will permit a forward sliding of the rear portion 31. Itscontinuous smooth forward and rearward rocking will also enable mydevice to be used 0n practically any ground, not only on a smooth floorbut also on a carpet, in the open air, on lawns, etc.

In my invention means are also provided whereby my travelling rockingdevice may be changed to a plain rocking device, without the advancingor travelling feature, when desired.

For this purpose the two members 31 and 38 of the rocker will betemporarily locked to one another, whereby an advance shooting of thefront member 38, and a consequent closing thereon of the rear member 31,will be prevented. One embodiment of such a means is shown in Figs. 1, 2and 9, and is generally indicated by the numeral 68. In this embodiment,for the purpose in view, a comparatively wide vertical hole or recess 5|will be Vformed in the forward part of the rear runner 31, above andover the front runner 38. Said larger recess or hole will be continueddownwardly through the material of the rear runner 31 by a narrower hole52, and, similarly, it will be continued upwardly, opening into the topof the rear runner, through another similar narrower hole 63.

A pin 64k will be placed slidably through the narrow holesy 62 and 632,and a disk 65 will be secured 'on said pin in the wider recess 6l. Acoiled spring 66 will be inserted around the pin Slt betweenthe bottomof the recess 6l and the disk 65'. A receiving holeV or recess 6l alsowill be provided in the upper edge of the front member 38 opposite tothe pin 64 in the rear member.

It will be obvious that, normally, the spring 66 willl push said pinfillV upwardly, and its lower end 68 will be out of engagement with therecess el in the front member 38 and said front member will beApermitted to slide forwardly with reference tor the rear member. If,however, it is desired to lock the' two members and change thetravelling devicerto a plain rocking device, the user of the hobbylhorse will step on the upper end of the pin Se' and will press itdownwardly, against the spring B6, whereby theV lower end S8 of the pin64 will engage the recess 61 in the Afront member and the two memberswill be locked to one another as long as the pressure oi the foot on thepin 6B is maintained.

It will be seen that if both sides of my devicef are locked in themanner described, the user stepping on the locking pins 64 in bothrunners by the respective feet, my device is turned into ausual rockinghorse with no advancing feature.

However, if only one runner of my device will be locked in the mannerexplained hereinbefore, like for instance, stepping on the locking pin6e on the right hand side of my device only, then it has been myexperience that upon the rear part trying to close on the front partsthe device willturn in the direction indicated by arrow 69, that is,toward the locked side, in this instance toward the right. It seems,that in this case the part `of the-bottom or rocking edge 35 of theright hand locked runner, resting on the ground, as indicated at 1t,will serve as the turning or pivot point, vand the leftside of thedevice will travel in a circular path therearound, as indicated at ll.

It also has beenmy experience that even if one side runner is locked,still the rear part of the runner may -closeon the front part in theother runner, in this casein the left hand side of the device, notlocked. This I attribute to the comparatively great weight of the rearpart with` the` user, the child, thereon and the leverage action thereofon the swivel center 1I] in the locked right hand runner.

The locking device Se may take any other appropriate form Adifferentfrom the one shown and described, and a device according to the idea ofthe locking means B0 may be made independently of the runner, as 4forinstance, in a separate housing, and then secured on the runner, insteadof being .formed in a recess in the materiali thereof.

The slot and roller 'co-action between the rear and front parts of mydevice may also be constructed in a great many ways, different from the`ones shown, but without departing from the scope of my invention.

Instead of the plainy rubber springs 55, other stretching resilientelements, like coiled springs, may be used, and they, as well as rtherollers may be concealed within the respective parts of the device.

My invention also provides an advancing rocking `horse which is entirelysafe, and even small vchildren may playv with it without any danger ofmy invention will be smooth, uninterrupted, continuous, without any jarsor shocks, and it operate in such a desirable manner on almost anyground, and not only on the usual smooth door of a room.

My invention obviously alsoprovides an ad vancing rocking horse whichisvery simple in construction, comparatively easy and inexpensive tomanufacture, and still reliable and durable in use.

In Figs. l0 to l2, I show a modification in the construction ofV my twoypart runners or rockers.

In this modication the rear runner part is indicated, in general, at Se,and the front part at 3l. The horse part of the device is shown brokenaway in the drawings', being only indicated at 82, and its securing'into and on the rear parts of the two runners at the two sides ci thedevice is indicated at 83' and 8&3, as will be understood.

The front part, generally indicated at 35aof the rearrunner portion is;forked having 'the two branches 85 and 86a between which is ar rangedthe front runner portion 8 i Slots S5 and 3l are formed in the frontportion 8l and rol-1ers it and 39 arel in said slots, said rollers beingsecured in the rear portion of the runner as indicated at 9G and 9|.

A small plate 92 is secured across the front, forked, part 30d of therearl runner carrying the pin 53, and a corresponding pin is securedadjacent' the rear end of the front runner portion iii. A rubber spring95 is secured between two pins.

The use and operation of this type of runner will be similar to thosedescribed hereifnbefore.

Upon a rear rocking, the spring b5 will pull. the front member 8lforwardly to the limit allowed bythe slots e6 and 81. Upon a reverse,fcrward rocking, the rear member 89 w-ill close upon the front member,again tothe limit of the slots,

in this manne-r; rocking and advancing wi-i bev produced ina simpleattractive looking dev1ce.

Another modication of my invention is shown in Figs. I3 to 15.

In this embodiment, the rear runner portions are indicated at lim and|01, respectively, which are interconnected by the frame structure i532on which is built the upper part M3 of the de vice. This part may,again, imitate a horse, but preferably some other animal adapted to havelong forward neck portion I03a.

The two forward runner members me and H55, may be `used in thisembodiment, too, but they are shown as placed inwardly of the rearportions li and lill, and as suspended from the neck H130.. Said neckmay have a long appro-- priately curved slot |06 formed therethrough,which may run the rollers |01- and les, secured in the upper portionslillia and VIll5a of the front runner members lLl and m5.

In the front end of the neck lll-3a is secured the downward pin |09,and' a corresponding but up ward pin llt is secured on the frame memberill connecting thel two front members mil and m5.

A rubber spring H2 is secured to the two pins it and i it, and it willbe seen that the use and operation-0f this form of my invention issimilar to those described hereinbefore.

Upon a rearward rocking, arrow I i3, the front members 104 and |05 willshoot forwardly, arrow iid, under' the influence of the rubber band l-i75 and to the limit defined byf-thefront end -I'ia of the slot |66. Upona forward rocking (arrow H),v therefront members will be fixed on thefloor and the rear runner or rocker members |06 and will slideforwardly, under the force of gravity (arrow H6), to the limit allowedby the slot |66, as indicated in Fig, 13 at |06b. y

This form of my device is particularly adapted to imitate a desiredanimal, advancing with its forward legs upon every rearward rocking.

In Figs. 16 and 17 I show still a further modification of my invention.This modification embodies the principle that the user, like a child, ofthe rocking device or rocking horse, may have means right on the upperpart, or on the rocking horse proper, whereby at will may lock eitherthe right or left hand side of the device, as has been describedhereinbefore, but instead of two independent operating locking meansbeing provided, like the slidable pins 64 in the earlier embodiment oithis principle, one single element, adapted to be easily available tothe user of the device, like a child sitting on the horse, will operateeither locking devices as desired.

In the embodiment of Figs. 16 and 17 this single means is in the form ofa swivelled or rotatable head |20 for the horse, which has meansdepending therefrom, whereby upon a right turning it will lock the righthand side of the device, and upon a left turning it will lock the leftside rear and front runner members to one another.

The embodiment of Figs. 16 and 17, generally follows the one shown inFigs. 1 and 2, and for this reason certain parts thereof have beenomitted to clearer show the novel principle illustrated in Figs. 16 and17. In this embodiment, also, two runners or rockers proper, S6 and 34,are employed, each being composed of a rear member 31 and a front member38, separated by the slots 39 and eil, and operating in an identicalmanner as has been described in. connection with the embodiment of Figs.1 and 2. In this embodiment, however, the head |26 of the horse isseparate from the upper structure 32 of the device, and is rotatablethereon, having a depending shaft or rod I2| secured thereto which isrotatable in an appropriate hole or bearing |22 in said upper structure32.

It will be seen that upon a right hand or left hand turning of thehorses head |20, by the child sitting in the saddle M, and using thehandles or grips 35 in the horses head, the shaft |2| will rotate orrock to the right or to the left.

At the lower end of the shaft a forwardly projecting rod 23 is secured,having at its forward end a transverse right hand branch |24 and a lefthand similar branch |25. A flat spring |26 may be secured on the righthand rear runner and a similar spring |21 may be secured on the lefthand rear runner member in the manner to be described presently.

The springs |26 and |21 are secured at their inner ends on the rearrunner 6l' of each side, as by securing the said springs on the innerdownward plates or members 52a on the respective sides above the pins 5Gcarried by said members i129):l This movementwillbcause the right handbranch of said lower rod system to. press against thefree forward end|26a of the spring |26, pressing said spring against the right handfront runner member 38, as will beunderstood.

`As long as the horses head is turned to the right with sucient force,it will press spring |26 against said runnerl member and prevent itsoperation, wherebyl the right hand rear and front runner members will betemporarily locked to one another.

It will be seen that the right hand runner member is not operating nowfor advancing the device, wherefore the device will turn on said lockedmember (arrow |36), as has been explained hereinbefore, in connectionwith the embodiment of Figs. l and 42, and the operation of the lockingpin 64 therein.

When the righthand turn and pressure on the horses head is released, thespring |26 will also be released, and the locking effect between therear and front right hand runner members will terminate.

On the other hand, obviously, if the horses head is turned to the left,an identical operation is produced on the left hand side of the devicethrough the rod member |25 and spring |21 (arrow 13|) and the left siderear and front runner members will be locked whereby the device will becaused to turn to the left, as shown by arrow |32.

Ina word, the user, like a child, of the rocking horse, can simply guidethe horse to the right or left by pulling the horses head to the rightor i left.

To increase the effect of the springs, the parts of them pressed by therespective rods |24 and |25, may be curved outwardly as at |2627 and|2lb, and the respective portion of the front runner member 38 may evenhave a recess to receive that outwardly bulging portion of the springand thereby effect a more secure binding between the spring and thefront runner member.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which theseveral objects of this invention are achieved, and which is welladapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various further possible embodiments might be made of the aboveinvention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments aboveset forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth orshown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

' What I claim as new and want to protect by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is:

In an advancing rocking device, a rocker or runner having a continuoussingle curved lower rocking edge whereby to rock the device on anappropriate supporting surface, like the oor in a building, said runnerbeing composed of a front and a rear member, means to mount said membersfor movement one relative to the other, said front member beingprevented from moving forwardly, in the normal position of the rocker,down to contact of said front member with the supporting surface, saidfront member being adapted to be entirely freed of the supportingsurface upon a predetermined rear rocking of the device, the device thenbeing supported entirely on said rear member, and said rear member beingsimilarly adapted to be entirely freed of said surface upon a suitableVforward rocking, the device then being entirely supported on said frontmember, means each runner for locking them to one another, the 10 meansfor looking the two members of one runner being independent of the meansfor locking the two members of the other runner, thereby to cause thedevice to turn in a right hand or left hand direction as desired.

MAURICE D. JACOBS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 96,708 Lautenschlager Nov. 9,1869 1,212,122 Wilkinsonv Jan. 9, 1917 1,325,098 Litzenberg Dec. 16,1919 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 15,823 Great Britain July 17,1903

